“You’ll never forget this”: what the FBI agent says about the siege in Waco after 25 years

The agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives embraces a colleague wounded during the storming of Mount Carmel, on February 28, 1993. Photos of the Waco Tribune-Herald

In February 1993, the FBI began the siege of the ranch in Waco (Texas), which belonged to members of the religious sect “Branch of David.” The round-up was to end with a quick and spectacular victory of the secret services, but in fact, 51 days went by. In the incident, four special agents were killed and 82 sect members burned, including children. The brutality with which the authorities acted strengthened the culture of American distrust of the government, which a couple of years later led to new tragedies.

April 19, 2018 will be exactly 25 years since the siege of Mount Carmel. The operative and negotiator of the FBI, Byron Sage, who tried to convince the members of the sect to surrender from the first day to the last day, is still trying to answer the question, what went wrong. His opinion and regrets about the outcome of the tragedy, he shared with the magazine Texas Monthly.

The final clock

On April 19, 1993, FBI agent Byron Sage was standing next to the ranch, where sectarians barricaded themselves, and waited for the end of the assault. For the past seven weeks, he and another 51 negotiators from various agencies have tried to convince David Koresh, the “Branch of David”, and more than a hundred of his followers to leave the estate known as Mount Carmel.

It was Sage, one of the first negotiators, who arrived at the ranch after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives failed the siege. Attempting to take the strengthening of the sectarians by storm, the agents met with a stiff rebuff – four operatives and six followers of the “Branch of David” were killed in the shootout.

Sage became the leading negotiator, regularly communicating with Koresh and his assistants. The FBI agent called on the besieged to cooperate, argued when it seemed to him that this was the best way out, and demanded if all other methods failed. After the failed siege against the sectarians, they launched a psychological attack: their vehicles and structures were destroyed by armored vehicles, and the songs of Nancy Sinatra and the cat meow were loudly reproduced from the loudspeakers. The estate also turned off water and electricity, so the sectarians and their children drank rainwater and ate rations.

The government tank rides past the fortified estate “Branch of David”. AFP photo

Despite the attempts of Sage and other negotiators, the besieged did not give up. On the 51st day, the authorities decided to go for a full-scale assault. As Justice Minister Janet Reno later claimed, the attack began due to reports of sectarian violence against children. Special services drove the helicopters and tanks to the ranch, and then shelled the sect seekers with tear gas. According to one version, it was this that triggered the fire inside the estate.

While the fire slowly enveloped the buildings and houses, Sage tried to convince the besieged to come out and surrender. As the operative recalls, the stronger the flame became, the faster his requests turned into pleas. Despite this, only nine members of the “Branch of David” left the estate – the rest, including the leader of the commune, David Koresh, were killed . Someone burned down or suffocated, and someone flunked the rubble of the building. As shown by the autopsy, at least 20 members of the sect, including the head, shot themselves. In the body of a 3-year-old child, a deep knife wound was found in the chest region, and in total 25 minors were killed in a fire.

Ambiguous history

Immediately after the assault, Sage was not yet aware of all the details, but slowly realized the severity of what had happened. “I was exhausted emotionally, physically and mentally. Worse than when you cry, “- said the operative. After the siege, he returned to the local motel, took a shower and went to bed. A few hours later someone knocked on the door – Sage decided that they were reporters, – but on the threshold stood his wife Cheryl. That night they did not speak.

The next two and a half weeks Sage spent in Waco on orders from above – helped at the site of the tragedy and told reporters why the operation ended in disaster. Since then, little has changed for him. After 25 years, the tragedy, known simply as “Waco”, continues to be discussed. In early 2018, the documentary ” Waco: The Madman or the Messiah ” was released, telling about the leader of the sect, David Koresh.

David Koresh. Getty Photos

In January 2018, the mini-series “Waco” was released – the first Hollywood version of the tragic events, in which the authors tried not to stand on someone’s side, but to tell an objective story. This is not surprising, because the incident is still considered one of the most controversial in modern US history. People continue to wonder whether the sectarians really deserve the authorities to attack them with tanks, helicopters and tear gas.

Davidov’s Branch broke away from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who believed in the coming Judgment Day, and its members settled in Mount Carmel in 1959. The local “Branch” caused more curiosity than a sense of threat: members of the commune worked in Waco and often communicated with residents.

Everything changed with the arrival of Koresh – in the 1980s he took control of the religious community and introduced new doctrines. For example, he obliged all members of the current to have sex only with his wife or spouse. At the same time, this did not apply to the leader of “Branch” – he entered into sexual relations with all the women he liked.

Despite the ambiguity of the leader, 74 people preferred to stay with Koresh in a burning building, rather than go to federal agents. As the CNN poll showed the day after the tragedy, 73% of Americans approved the FBI’s actions, and 93% accused Koresh of killing his supporters. But the more journalistic investigations and conspiracy theories appeared that the intelligence services set fire to the ranch with flamethrowers, the more people began to doubt the quality of the work of the authorities.

Crosses in memory of the dead members of the “Branch of David” a few kilometers from the place of the tragedy. Holiday pictures AP

The main blow to the FBI’s position was inflicted by the ultra-right Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. On the second anniversary of the tragedy in Waco, they mined a car from an administrative building in Oklahoma City, which housed offices of government agencies, including the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (lost four agents during the assault in Waco) .

The explosion destroyed most of the building, killing 168 and wounding 680 people. 27-year-old McVeigh explained his actions revenge for the tragedy in Waco. In the autumn of the same year, a train derailed in Arizona, resulting in the death of one and injuring 78 people. On the site of the crash, there were reports of criticism of the authorities for the allegedly failed siege of the estate.

A few days after the terrorist attack in Oklahoma City, the survey showed that only 45% of Americans support FBI actions during the assault.

Sage’s memories

According to the 70-year-old Sage, he always wanted to become an FBI agent who “works in the field, knocks doors, develops sources – well, you know, has fun and gets paid for it,” the man explains. He grew up in California with his drinking father, who regularly beat his son in the “educational framework”. In his teenage years, Sage was arrested for burglary, and later he went to fight in Vietnam. After spending two years there, he returned home, was educated and in 1970 settled in the FBI.

Byron Sage describes the work of the secret services during the siege at Waco at a court hearing, July 1995. Holiday pictures AP

Sage rarely refused to give interviews to journalists, in the zone of vision which he was immediately after the siege. He always spoke in defense of the agency, arguing that the FBI did not deliberately hide important information about the siege (after the tragedy it became known that federal snipers secretly fired on members of the sect and the concentration of tear gas could be fatal), but because of bureaucratic costs. In response, he received dozens of emails from people who denounced his position and blamed the FBI for a large number of victims. Negative Sage was not embarrassed – he tried to answer and explain his position to everyone.

The operative understands that now his words will not stand against the accusations of the special services. All the latest works about the tragedy in Waco are not without criticism of the FBI and other operatives on the spot. The Wakeo series of 2018 shows that federal agents accidentally provoked a fire, and sectarian leader David Koresh rescued women and children. “It’s almost a depressing reality, where you did everything to solve the situation peacefully, and then you are called a murderer. You know, a cold-blooded killer, “Sage laments.

Protest action against government actions during the storming in Waco near the FBI building in Washington, April 19, 1994. Holiday pictures AP

According to the wife of the operative, sometimes he dreamed of a siege, and then Sage woke with a shiver in the body. Sometimes in an interview the FBI agent looked too depressed, and when he was invited to the studio and included the recording of the final moments of the assault, he turned away from the screen. At the same time, a sharp reluctance to recall the events of those days did not prevent the agent from meeting with the children of those killed in the fire, including Koresh’s offspring.

His Sage considers himself a charismatic man who is guilty of the murder of four federal agents and the arson of his own estate with people inside.

The estate of the religious sect “Branch of David”, April 19, 1993. AFP photo

When the assault was already drawing to an end, and the sect building swept through the flames, Sage continued to urge members of the sect to come out. “Bring out your people, David. Be a messiah, not an annihilator, “the operative shouted at the loudspeaker. However, by that time, most likely, everyone inside was already dead.

Sage continued to urge people to leave the building even when he was almost completely consumed by the fire. At one point the building collapsed, and then a powerful explosion followed, leaving behind a small mushroom cloud. “Those who are still in the structure, try to get out at any cost,” the operative continued to say, turning to the place where the building had just been. But no one answered.

A couple of minutes later, Sage approached the loudspeaker system and turned off the power. “This is one of those moments in life that you will never forget,” recalls the operative. “When I turned off the food, it seemed to me that behind my back there are 51 people, and all of them I like saying -” We did not cope. “”